decreasing a defense budget right now is not the way to do it. we don't even have a national security or a national military strategy done in the last three to four years. therefore, we don't have a baseline by which we can even determine what our troop force structure should be and how we should be exercising it. >> general newton, i think most of us would look at the overall picture of the defense budget and say there's got to be ways. there's fraud, abuse, duplication. as a person who served many years in the air force, what is the strategic value of making cuts, and if we make some, where should they be made and where should we be spending more money rather than less money? >> well, first, let me say it remains an uncertain world out there. adversaries or potential adversaries get a vote in terms of where to engage, when, and under certain conditions, of course, so we need to maintain readiness. what i would advocate for is that we make sure that we still are able to send our sons and daughters of our volunteers, as you said at the top of the